Over at DCist J.T. Kirkland had a very similar take to mine on this show. Seeing images of Wiley's work in Art In America got me excited to see this stuff at Conner a few weeks ago. His mix of contemporary African-American men with old master paint references seemed smart and tricky.
The problem is the execution. The paint just isn't there. The subject's jeans don't look like fabric - they look like paint. I have no problem with him projecting onto the canvas as part of his process, but in some work he doesn't even bother to erase the guidelines for lights and darks. While Wiley does use scale very effectively to create a confrontation between subject and viewer, the men's faces have a flat, not-alive feeling to them. Only in the pencil-drawing area does he start making more than images - some of the fabric comes to life and has texture and movement.
This criticism is probably beside the point. Wiley "deals" with hot-button images of race and masculinity, fused with an old-school-pleasing devotion to art history and paint. What matters isn't whether what he makes holds up as painting (even though he set the bar by invoking painting greats). What matters is the image, the context, the cleverness and, finally, the press release.
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